Cinema at the End of the World: The Mystery of the Sinai Desert

In the arid heart of the Sinai Desert, amidst sandy dunes and endless vistas, lies one of Egypt’s most enigmatic and fascinating places: the Cinema at the End of the World. A name that alone evokes cinematic images, and which conceals a story as incredible as it is surreal.

A Cinema in the Middle of Nowhere

Imagine yourself in the middle of the desert, surrounded only by silence and sand. Then, suddenly, hundreds of wooden chairs appear, arranged neatly as in a movie theater, facing a giant screen that looks like a sail stranded in time. No, it’s not a Hollywood set, but a real artistic project, now completely abandoned.

In the 1990s, a visionary French entrepreneur, Diynn Eadel, decided to build an open-air cinema right there, among the desert hills of Sinai, with the intention of offering screenings under the stars in one of the most remote places in the world.

The Dream That Never Came True

Eadel purchased around 700 chairs from an old cinema in Cairo, transported them to the desert, along with a generator and a massive screen. Everything was ready for the grand opening.

But something went wrong. According to local legends, the Egyptian authorities did not approve of the project, and shortly before the first screening, the generator was sabotaged. The dream was shattered before it even began. The audience never arrived. The screen never projected a film.

A Post-Apocalyptic Relic

Today, the Cinema at the End of the World is a fascinating monument to failure, an artistic relic that tells of dreams too big to be contained. The chairs have been damaged by time, some removed, others vandalized, but the visual effect remains powerful.

The area was closed to tourists in 2018, making the site inaccessible, but its fame continues to live on thanks to evocative photographs and the stories of those who, years ago, managed to reach it.

How to Reach It (or Dream About It)

The cinema is located not far from Sharm el-Sheikh, but it is no longer visitable. However, its myth has grown to the point of becoming an imaginary stop for every traveler in search of forgotten places, artistic utopias, and stories of shattered dreams.

If you are in the area, you can still explore the Sinai Desert with organized excursions, visit the Monastery of Saint Catherine, climb Mount Sinai, or discover the Blue Desert: authentic places that, like the abandoned cinema, tell of a different Egypt, far from the tourist routes.

A Symbol of Creative Freedom

The Cinema at the End of the World has become an iconic symbol of creative freedom, a place that celebrates art even when it finds no space to express itself. It is a story that speaks of idealism, obstinacy, and the beauty that can arise even from mistakes or failed projects.